Mario Kart (DS) Review

Overall Rating

Enjoy all of the thrills of the great game, now gone portable! The game incorporates old tracks and new tracks exclusively for the DS, including Yoshi falls. Some of the retro tracks include: Mario circuit 1 from the SNES, Moo Moo Farm from the N64 and Peach Circuit from the GBA to name but a few. There is the standard layout of single player and multiplayer (broadband internet connection needed for online play) which allows you to play against people around the world with the push of a button. Inside the single mode are five racing types:

Grand Prix - Race 4 tracks in 3 difficulties, 50cc (easiest) past 100cc (middle) up to 150cc (hardest)! Be the person to have the most points at the end and win the Grand Prix. There are to start off with 4 "retro" grand prix - including the SNES N64 and GBA tracks, plus the "Nitro" grand prix which holds the newer tracks. Also, be ranked on your performance and try to get 2 stars!!!

Time Trials - Try all of the grand prix tracks but with a twist, beat the time to get a higher rank, and use the item boxes to your advantage, see later in the review.

VS - The most basic of the race types, simply pick your racer and the CPU's are picked at random. Then have free choice with the class, the difficulty of the CPU's, how the courses are chosen, the rules (how many wins, how many races or free) and whether it's a team race, 4 vs 4. Then you have a free choice of any grand prix that you have unlocked at that difficulty level.

Battle Mode - Battle mode is split down into two sub-sections:

Balloon Battle - This mode allows you to make good use of the item boxes and burst your opponents balloons with them, if all of your balloons pop, you lose. Balloon Battle makes use of the inbuilt microphone, simply blow into the microphone to inflate your balloons. Pick any of an initial 6 'play' circuits and BURST THOSE BALLOONS!!!

Shine Runners - Collect shines from around the circuit and steal your opponents by using item boxes, but be careful as after a certain time, the lower amounts are booted out so keep hold of your shines and steal others. The person with the most shines at the end wins obviously. This mode also operates on the same system as the VS mode as in the choosing your racer and then the race options.

Mission - Collect item boxes, go through the gates and beat the boss of each level and recieve a grade for the level. To start with you have 6 levels, each with 8 sub-levels and a final boss level.

Each of those five racing modes has its own advantages and thrills, but are made more excitable with the use of item boxes which can win you and can also lose you a race. Some of the 'booty' acquired from the item boxes include:

Mushrooms - Small burst of speed

Golden Mushroom - Unlimited use of bursts of speed for a certain amount of time.

Rocket - Controls your kart and races at fast pace for an amount of time.

Green Shell - Unguided missile that is flung from the front of your kart.

Red Shell - Guided missile flung from the front of your kart.

Those are just a few of the items that you acquire from the boxes that are used to your advantage. Many of races I have won using these boxes.

Circuit records are saved onto the game card and are accessible through the main screen which can help you be the best!

Overall, this game is an amazing representation of the previous versions, with updated graphics and race tracks. Definately recommended to anyone who has enjoyed this games amazing ancestors. Thumbs Up!